Pastor's Corner

21Sep

Mid-Week Challenge

Mid-Week Challenge

Each day it becomes harder to express our Christian faith. Even with the promise of the Constitutional right of free speech in this country those who oppose Christianity know the law and if they cannot suppress the voice of Christian individuals they seek to water down those who live for Christ. An example of this is happening in New York where a replica of the Temple of Baal arch is being built by The Institute for Digital Archaeology. You might remember ISIS blowing up the original 1,800 year old Victory Arch in 2015 as they swept the country destroying many pagan symbols.

The Institute for Digital Archaeology released a statement explaining why rebuilding a replica of the arch in New York was so important:

"There are few cities in the world as much defined by their architecture as New York. The Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the

Brooklyn Bridge — all symbols of the audacity, strength, technical prowess, diversity and optimism of what Ezra Pound called 'the most beautiful city in the world.' It is also a city that has known terrible loss — first and foremost the loss of life, but also the loss of familiar landmarks that helped in form the city's identity. The Triumphal Arch, a symbol of resilience in the face of loss, will be a fitting tribute to America's great metropolis. The arch will stand in City Hall Park, surrounded by buildings adorned with classical features suggesting the common cultural roots of East and West”.http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/plans-to-go-forward-to-build-arch-of-baal-in-nyc.html

Wow, all too true of the time in which we are living! You might remember Baal as the enemy god of Israel. He was a popular god of the Philistines. You might remember the encounter Elijah had with his prophets where Elijah called down fire from the sky! You might remember Baal as the god Israel turned to during the evil reign of the kings during the divided periods. But most telling I remember the worship of Baal and other false gods being the downfall of Solomon after he married so many foreign wives. In 1 Kings 11 we are given the downfall of Solomon and the beginning of the divided kingdom. It did not happen overnight, it was a gradual thing. Solomon grew more powerful and as he took foreign wives their gods came with them. Solomon built temples to their gods and joined in the worship to keep the peace at home. Not too long after God judged his actions and the kingdom eventually fell into civil war.

Fast-forward to modern times and our once Biblical nation is celebrating the construction of a pagan temple dedicated to the false god, which took down the Nation of Israel, in the heart of one of our major cities where if we were to try to construct a Christian cross in the same place it would be shut down by the courts. History repeats itself and we would be wise to catchup on the lessons from the past.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Galatians 6:7